Catalog 128, B
24. BANKS, Russell. Continental Drift. NY: Harper & Row (1985). A highly praised novel that was something of a breakthrough book for him. Banks's next two novels, Affliction (1989) and The Sweet Hereafter (1991), were both movingly adapted to film. Inscribed by the author. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with a crease at the lower edge of the rear panel.
25. BANKS, Russell. Success Stories. NY: Harper & Row (1986). A collection of stories, whose venues range from New England to Latin America to Southeast Asia. Inscribed by the author. Production flaw has created an intricate railroad track pattern across the spine cloth; odd but fine in its own way; beneath a fine jacket.
26. BANKS, Russell. Affliction. NY: Harper & Row, 1989. The second of Banks's novels to be filmed. Warmly inscribed by the author to a "fellow Granite Stater, news from the home front." Fine in a fine dust jacket.
27. BARNES, Julian. Flaubert's Parrot. London: Jonathan Cape (1984). His breakthrough book, a combination of fiction, literary history, criticism and biography, and one of the most highly praised books of the decade. One lower corner bump; else fine in a near fine dust jacket.
28. -. Same title, the first American edition. NY: Knopf, 1985. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a crease on the lower rear panel.
29. BARNES, Julian. Cross Channel. London: Cape (1996). A collection of stories. Inscribed by the author in the year of publication. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
30. BARTHELME, Donald. Come Back, Dr. Caligari. Boston: Little Brown (1964). His first book, a collection of short, experimental fictions. Barthelme was an influential writer whose stories, novels and other prose pieces helped re-define and expand the possibilities of literary art in the Sixties, at a time when the novel was proclaimed "dead." His writings not only belied that assertion by invigorating postwar American letters, they exerted an enormous influence on a younger generation of writers who looked to him and his postmodern contemporaries for a way to re-invent literature and make fiction a relevant art form in an era characterized by instantaneous electronic information transfer, and the appearance of mass psychosis that it seemed to convey. Mild offsetting to front flyleaf; else fine in a near fine dust jacket with some general dustiness and one internally tape-mended edge tear.
31. BECKETT, Samuel. Ill Seen Ill Said. Northridge: Lord John, 1982. A limited edition by the Nobel Prize-winning author of Waiting for Godot. Translated from the French by the author. Of a total edition of 325 copies, this is one of 26 lettered copies signed by the author. Attractively bound in three quarter leather and blue paste paper by David Bourbeau. Fine without dust jacket, as issued.
32. BELL, Madison Smartt. Straight Cut. NY: Ticknor & Fields, 1986. A review copy of his third novel. Signed by the author. Small margin stain page 217; else fine in a near fine dust jacket with light wear to the spine extremities. Publicity information laid in; no review slip.
33. BELL, Madison Smartt. The Year of Silence. NY: Ticknor & Fields, 1987. Inscribed by the author. Fine in a near fine dust jacket.
34. BERENDT, John. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. NY: Random House (1994). A highly praised literary nonfiction portrait of Savannah, Georgia, a surprise bestseller for over two years, going through dozens of printings, and later the basis for a movie. The first edition is somewhat uncommon and certainly represents a minuscule percentage of the total number of copies printed. This copy is signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
35. BERLIN, Isaiah. The Hedgehog and the Fox. NY: Simon & Schuster (1953). Cloth very slightly mottled; near fine in a good, spine-faded and price-clipped dust jacket with tears at the edges and folds, several internally tape-mended.
36. BORGES, Jorge Luis. El Jardin de Senderos Que Se Bifurcan. Buenos Aires: Sur (1942). Borges' first important work of fiction, the first of the "ficciones" for which he was to become famous. These stories were later republished in his acclaimed volume Ficciones, published in 1944, which was a breakthrough book for the author. This, however, was the first publication of these stories, in the collection whose title translates as "The Garden of the Forking Paths," and for which there is no comparable English-language edition. Borges' first fiction had been published several years earlier, in the collection Historia Universal de la Infamía -- or "Universal History of Infamy" -- which was a book of "falsifications and distortions," but nonetheless based on the lives, and legends, of real characters. It was only with this volume that Borges first plunged into the wholly fictional creations for which he earned a reputation as one of the great writers of the 20th century. This volume contains some of Borges' most famous, and most widely reprinted, stories -- "The Library of Babylon," "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" and "Pierre Menard," among others. This copy is an extraordinary association copy, inscribed by Borges to his sister, Norah, and her son: "Para Norah y Miguel, con el cari o y la simpatia de/ Jorge Luis Borges." Norah Borges illustrated Jorge's first book of poems, Luna de Enfrente, in 1923, so the family association is also closely linked with the early publication of his writing. 1995 ownership signature of Miguel; wrappers slightly darkened, particularly along the spine; folds rubbed; a near fine copy of this extremely fragile volume, in the pale blue wrappers typical of Sur publications of the time, which are notoriously prone to sunning, fading and wear; this is a well-preserved and very attractive copy, and is exceptionally scarce thus, let alone as an important association copy. Borges has been called the greatest writer to not win the Nobel Prize, and it has been said, and widely agreed, that this failure reflected more poorly on the Nobel Prize committee than on the author. (See rear cover photograph.)
37. BORGES, Jorge Luis. Aspectos de la Literatura Gauchesca. Montevideo: Numero (1950). One of 1000 numbered copies, this copy inscribed by Borges to Emilio Oribe, the poet, and his closest friend in Uruguay: "Para el amigo Oribe, con el afecto de/ Jorge Luis Borges/ Montevideo - 1950." A wonderful literary association: Oribe was a modernist poet associated both with Borges' "school" of "ultaísmo" as well as the Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa who, along with Federico García Lorca, is considered one of the foremost Iberian poets of the 20th century. A small but significant volume by Borges -- an essay on Argentine folk literature that attempts to establish its place in the overall context of world literature. Small bookplate of the noted Argentine collector Federico Vogelius -- perhaps the most important collector of 20th century Latin American literature and art; margins and covers age-darkened; very good in stapled wrappers. (See rear cover photograph.)
38. BORGES, Jorge Luis and BIOY-CASARES, Adolfo. Los Orilleros and El Paraíso de los Creyentes. Buenos Aires: Editorial Losada (1955). Two collaborative filmscripts by Borges and his longtime friend and frequent collaborator, Bioy-Casares. Inscribed by Borges to Mandie (Molina Vedia), Argentine author and one of Borges greatest loves: "Para Mandie, con los mejores deseos para estas fiestas/ Jorge Luis Borges." Borges dedicated one of his stories in Ficciones to Mandie, "La Muerte y la Brújula" ("Death and the Compass"), and she also provided a vignette for one of Borges' books, Nueva refutación del tiempo, in 1947. Bioy-Casares is one of the most important Argentine writers of the 20th century in his own right, the author of La invención de Morel, which was the basis for the French avant garde film Last Year at Marienbad. He also wrote Plan de Evasión (A Plan for Escape) and collaborated with Borges on several volumes, most notably Seis Problemas para don Isidro Parodí, which against all odds was selected by "Ellery Queen" as a "Queen's Quorum" mystery title. Underlinings in text; owner signature on recto of flyleaf; small bookplate on verso of Federico Vogelius, the prominent Argentine collector and, among other things, notable (among many other reasons) for having survived almost two years' imprisonment by the Argentine junta during the years of "los desaparecidos" -- the "dirty war" during which some 30,000 Argentines were arrested, often without cause, and subsequently disappeared. Some rubbing to the folds and minor darkening to covers; very good in self-wrappers.
39. BORGES, Jorge Luis and LEVINSON, Luisa Mercedes. La Hermana de Eloisa. Buenos Aires: Ene Editorial (1955). An uncommon collaboration by Borges, who wrote two of the stories in this volume with Levinson writing the other two. Levinson later wrote that the possibility of collaborating with Borges "dismayed" her: he was not nearly as well-known as he came to be later, but among writers he was viewed as a "writer's writer," and she was not sure she was up to the task of a collaboration. This copy is inscribed by Borges to Mandie (Molina Vedia): "Para Mandie con el afecto de/ Jorge Luis Borges." Mandie Molina Vedia was one of Borges' greatest loves (he dedicated one of the stories in Ficciones to her, and she provided a vignette for one of his books in 1947). Some rubbing to the folds and a bit of creasing to the rear cover; near fine in self-wrappers.
40. (BORGES, Jorge Luis). MICHAUX, Henri. Un Barbaro en Asia. Buenos Aires: Sur (1941). A translation by Borges of a travel account by the French painter and writer. Borges translated a number of French and English-speaking writers into Spanish, including William Faulkner and Virginia Woolf, as well as Michaux -- always with a tendency toward the avant garde, like Michaux, who was influenced by but never formally a part of the Surrealist movement. This volume is an account of the author's travels in Asia, a "poetic, self-analytical travelogue," it has been called. Inscribed by Borges to author Eduardo Mallea, "colega y amigo/ Jorge Luis Borges/ Buenos Aires - 1942." An exceptional association copy: Mallea was one of the most important Argentine authors of the 20th century, a former President of the Argentine Society of Writers, and a longtime friend of Borges. The two were closely allied from early in both of their careers, when they were part of the small group of friends who began the literary movement that revolved around the magazine and publishing house Proa in the early 1920s, which sought to bring Argentine literature out of the limits of the gaucho folk tradition and link it with the modernist experiments taking place in Europe at the time. Later, the group revolved around the magazine Sur and its associated publishing house, which published this volume as well as several of Borges' own books, including Ficciones and El Jardin de Senderos Que Se Birfurcan, among others. Owner name on half title; edge-darkened pages; spine darkened; rubbing to the folds and a small abrasion on the rear cover. Very good in self-wrappers.
41. BOSWELL, Robert. Dancing in the Movies. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press (1986). His scarce first book, reportedly printed in an edition of only 1500 copies, a collection of stories that won the Iowa School of Letters Award for Short Fiction. Inscribed by the author to the President of the University of Iowa at the time this book was published. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
42. BOYLE, T. Coraghessan. Greasy Lake. (NY): Viking (1985). His second collection of stories. Signed by the author. Two phrases highlighted in text; else fine in a fine dust jacket.
43. BOYLE, T. Coraghessan. World's End. (NY): Viking (1987). His third novel, winner of the PEN Faulkner Award. Inscribed by the author "con amistad." Fine in a fine dust jacket.
44. (BOYLE, T. Coraghessan). "Mungo Among the Moors" in Granta 5. (Cambridge): Granta (1982). An early issue of this influential magazine. Signed by Boyle at his contribution, a piece from his first novel, Water Music. Also signed by Susan Sontag, who contributes a piece on Elias Canetti. Also included is the important nonfiction piece by Jonathan Schell, "Nuclear Arms and the Fate of the Earth." Spine bumped, else fine in wrappers.
45. BRODSKY, Joseph. Selected Poems. NY: Harper & Row (1973). The Nobel Prize-winning Russian poet's first book to appear in the U.S., the year after he was exiled from the Soviet Union -- after serving 18 months of a five-year prison sentence -- where his poems had never been permitted to be published. After moving to the U.S., he won the National Book Critics Circle Award, a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant," and was named the U.S. Poet Laureate in 1992. His Russian citizenship was restored by Mikhail Gorbachev shortly before the fall of the Soviet Union, at the same time that Alexander Solzhenitsyn -- another Nobel Prize winner -- had his citizenship restored. Inscribed by the author. Fine in a fine, price-clipped dust jacket.
46. BRODSKY, Joseph. A Part of Speech. NY: FSG (1980). His second major collection of poems to be published in the U.S. Inscribed by the author in 1988. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
47. BRODSKY, Joseph. Less than One. NY: FSG (1986). Selected essays, his first book of prose, and the winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award. Inscribed by the author in 1988. Small bump to lower front corner, otherwise fine in a fine dust jacket.
48. BROWN, Rosellen. Some Deaths in the Delta. (n.p.): University of Massachusetts Press (1970). The hardcover issue of the first book by the author of Before and After, Civil Wars and others, this being a collection of poems. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine, price-clipped dust jacket with a bit of rubbing to the rear panel.
49. BROWN, Rosellen. Before and After. NY: FSG (1992). Later printing of this novel that was made into a movie with Meryl Streep and Liam Neeson. Warmly inscribed by the author in the year of publication. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
50. BROWN, Rosellen. A Rosellen Brown Reader. Hanover: Middlebury College Press/University Press of New England (1992). A volume of stories, essays, and poems, many of them previously uncollected. Inscribed by the author in the year of publication. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
51. (BUKOWSKI, Charles). "Looking Back at a Big One" in What Thou Lovest Well Remains. (Boise): Limberlost, 1986. A collection of tributes to Ezra Pound, edited by Richard Ardinger and with a preface by Jim Harrison. This is one of 26 lettered copies signed by 21 of the contributors, including Bukowski, Harrison, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, William Stafford, John Clellon Holmes, Hayden Carruth and James Laughlin, among others. Page corners slightly bumped; else fine without dust jacket, as issued. A rare appearance by a number of important contemporary authors.